‘No Flowers Today’ blooms, funky-slinky bassline and snap drums buoying a jaunty guitar and Caldwell’s sugared vocals. A square of slightly less worn and ragged fabric cut cleanly from the multicolored robe of SCREAMING TREES’ Uncle Anesthesia, this opener is an ideal introduction to this self-titled (not really a) debut. Southern California harmonies and a bit of a Country/Western tone to the guitar add a bit of that Laurel Canyon vibe to ‘Love Confession’, while ‘Lonely Man’ carries a Lennon/McCartney sensibility ably, the cynicism of John tempered by the pop flavorings of Paul from those turbulent final BEATLES years when you could hear the band falling apart, but knew that some of their best work was being done.
‘Picturesque Self-Portrait’ is pure SYD BARRETT; think ‘Love You’ as a reference point, at once unhinged and beautiful, a little of Caldwell’s adopted home of New Orleans jazz/swing referenced until the tune’s pure saccharine vocal coda. What’s a psychedelic album without a reference to a garden and/or gnomes, and our subject wins by combining the two, subtly interweaving prayer, lament and hope. DONOVAN’s short-lived but productive and landmark Open Road lineup gets a nod with ‘Fae-Tell’, leading into the finale of ‘Theodore Sullivan’
Quite honestly, though many styles (and artists) are mentioned above, CALDWELL is both a look back at a purer, freer time within pop music that shone like a supernova sun between the doo-wop and surf rock dominated late ‘50s/early ‘60s before the haughtiness of prog and the oncoming steamroller of hard rock swept it out to sea and a glorious taking up and flying of the freak flag in today’s current musical landscape, which sorely needs it.
Imagine what ERIC WAGNER, MARK LANEGAN and CALDWELL could’ve done together…
Review By: Lord Randall
CALDWELL
Caldwell
Popclaw / Rise Above